Lantern



I W. D- TITUS. A

Lantern. Patented Deb. 5. 1854..

UNITED STATES PATENT oEEIoE.

WILLIAM D. TITUS, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

LANTERN.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 12,041, dated December 5, 1854.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM D. TITUS, 0 Brooklyn, Kings county, State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Lanterns; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof.

The nature of my improvement consists in providing the lantern case with a slotted sliding cover, moving in grooves, which drops down over the match holder during the operation of lighting the lamp, and prevents the ingress of air currents through the lighting apertures, or the dangerous exit of flying sparks.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention I will proceed to describe its construction and operation, reference being had to the annexed drawings, in which,

Figure 1, is a side sectional elevation of my improvement. Fig. 2, a front elevation of the same.

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts.

A lantern glasses; A case of the lantern; A lantern lamp, A filling tube of lamp, B aperture in the lantern case, C match holder, C chain which attaches the holder to the lantern case, C wick picker on end of the match holder, D sliding cover of aperture B, D slot in the sliding cover, E notch in the case A in which the match holder fits,

F side wire to which the chain of match.

holder is fastened, Gr scratch plate, for lighting the match. 7

The lantern to which my improvement is attached is of triangular form, having plane glasses; The lamp A is fixed in and forms a portion of the bottom of the lantern. It is filled by means of filling tube A which extends from the lamp to the exterior of the lantern case. The lamp is lighted by the introduction of the match holder 0, through the aperture B. The lantern is therefore never opened at the side or bottom for lighting or filling, like most of the common articles. When new wicks are required to be introduced one of the glasses is temporarily removed from the grooves in which they are placed, the wire, E, being swung one side to admit the hand.

My improved lantern is particularly intended for use in the open air, on ship board, rail roads and other situations where exposure to the wind and currents of air are necessary.

The object of my improvement is to afford substance with which the extremity of the 1 match is furnishedeven in the strongest current of air; and that if quickly placed in a situation free from the influence of such current, a flame can be successfully produced. I take advantage of this circumstance by providing a match holder [D, in

the end of which the match is placed. When it is desired to" light the lamp, in the open air, the wind blowing, I set fire to the match by rubbing it on the scratch plate, G, quickly passing the match to the interior of'the lantern through the aperture B, and closing the slotted sliding cover D, over the same, which prevents all possibility of the introduction of the wind to extinguish the match, or of the sparks to fly out. I

- The slotted cover D, slides loosely in grooves, and falls of its own gravity so that the aperture B is always closed, except when raised by the hand to introduce the match holder. The slot D is intended to be of the same size as the match holder C, so that when the latter is introduced into the aperture and the cover D permitted to fall, a

close fit is formed no opening being left for the wind to enter, between the cover and the match holder, as seen in Fig. 1. In Fig. 2, the cover D is represented closed, the red lines showing its position when the match holder is introduced.

I am aware that apertures in lanterns for introducing the lighter, have been before used, to which sliding and swinging covers have been applied, and to such devices I make no claim. But

What I do claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The combination with the lantern case of the slotted cover D, whlch is .so arranged as to fall by its own gravity and fit upon the match holder during the operation of light ing the lamp, in the manner and for the purposes set forth.

WM. D. TITUs.

Witnesses JOHN K. OAKLEY, JOSEPH E. WEED. 

